Shoe-rack



0. E. LOCKE. SHOE RACK. APPLICATION HLQD APR.23' 1920.

1,374,592. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

fiverziara NORRlS PETER5. lNC.. LUNG. WASHINGTON. D

UNITED STATES PATENT 0F'FICE.

SHOE-RACK.

Application filed April 23, 1920.

quently being covered with heavy paper or cardboard.

Such form of racks do not support many types of shoes in a satisfactory manner, as, for example womens high-heeled shoes, as they are liable to tip over, so that they rub against each other, or rest on one side, and, as the uppers of shoes) of this type are frequently made of material which is easily soiled, or defaced, damage to the upper, in

this way frequently occurs. 7

Shoe racks which are adapted to support shoes bottom up are advantageous in that dust is less liable to settle on the uppers, but, so far as I am aware, such racks have supported the shoes by direct engagement with the upper, and such an arrangement is likely to cause damage to the upper in various ways.

It frequently happens that separate shoes are removed from a rack for examination and are not returned to the place from which they were taken. Different lots of shoes thus become broken or mixed, causing diiiiculty and delay.

Racks constructed of doweling are expensive to manufacture, on account of the high cost of doweling, and they lack durability.

The object of my invention is to provide-a form of shoe rack which will securely hold shoes while on the last in an inverted position, without contact either with each other or the rack, so that danger that the uppers thereof will become soiled or damaged is reduced to a minimum; which will permit the shoes to be readily (placed in position on the rack and remove therefrom, and in which a separate place is provided for each shoe, so that, if a shoe is removed, the place to which it should be returned will be evi- 5 dent.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A r. 12, 1921.v

Serial No. 376,101.

rack which is of less expensive construction and greater durability than the racks in general use and which, if required, may be constructed so that they may be readily knocked down and stored in a relatively small Space. V

I accomplish these objects by the means shown in the accompanying. drawings in which I Figure 1 is an end elevation and Fig. 2 is a Side elevation of a shoe rack em bodying my invention. 7

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional viewof one of the last holding means.

Fig. .4 is a detail view of a slightly modified form of the invention.

According to my invention I providea' shoe rack of the usual dimensions as to height and width, the frame thereof comprising.

four corner uprights a,'each pair'o-f end up? rights being connected by a Series of hori-:.

zontal cross bars Z), arranged at suitable distances apart fro-mtop to bottom, and corre-..

sponding in number to thedesired number of shoe supports, as hereinafter explained. The directly opposite uprights are mortised into base bars 0 to which the usual casters may be attached. These parts of the frame are all of wood strips of Suflicient size to give the requiredstrength and rigidity 1 and the joints are preferably mortised and-suitably braced.

The cross bars I), at each end correspondnumber, and position and a longitudinally extending bar cl is set into, andsecured at its ends in each corresponding pair of cross bars, providing a series of horizontal sup porting bars, which extend the entirelength of the rack. Said supporting bars are ar ranged at a short distance from the middle of the cross bars in which they are held, in alternate, or staggered relation ;-that is,

each-bar is arranged at one side or the other of the middle and the next bar above, and below any particular bar is arranged at the opposite side ofthe middle fromwthat at which suchbar is arranged, as shown in; Fig. 1...

Each supporting bar is provided with a series of suitably and equally spaced, paralto extend obliquely upward therefrom at an angle of about 45 from the vertical, the exact angle not being essential, the pins on any particular bar being inclined from the side nearest which the bar is located, so that they 'lel pins 6 which are set therein in position extend across the middle plane of the rack, and the usual arrangement being such that each pin is intersected at or near the middle by the middle longitudinal vertical plane of the rack.

Each of said pins is similar in size and shape tothe ordinary pinof a last jack, so that it will be received by the thimble of an ordinary shoe last. Said pins are, however,

On account of the alternating and stag-- gered arrangement of the supporting bars,

and the last-receiving pins, every shoe on the rack may be removed or replaced, without interfering with, or touching any other shoe or any portion of the rack, and this may be done by a straight'inotion in line with the pins. 7 r

The arrangement is such, that, when the shoe or last is also in position on one: of the last. holding pins, no portion thereof will extend beyond the side of the rack, as indicated in Fig. 1, and, as the last will be held in a position in which its weight will cause the last thimble to be cramped on the pin, the shoe will be held from swinging by the frictional engagement of the last with the pin, the force ofthis frictional engagement being increased by the wedging action of the pin, near its base, in the mouth of the thimble, as indicated in Fig. 3. The shoes will thus be prevented from swinging, so as to. rub against each other, when the rack is moved.

By having the pins 6 taper, so that they "are of substantially less diameter, at their ends, than the last thimble, the lasts maybe placed thereon with greater facility.

It will be evident that the shoes are held in such a position that dust settling thereon will settle principally on the shoebottom,

where it will do no damage.

As each shoe has a definite place in which it is held, so that, if one is removed, the place to which it must be returned is evident, and, as shoes are usually made in lots of six pairs or multiples of six, by providing a place for exactly six pairs on each bar the lots may be easily kept together and are unlikely to become mixed up.

The construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is for low cut shoes, in which case the supporting bars are offset from the middle by only a short distance and the pins are only of a length, but slightlypgreater than that of an ordinary jack pin, but, if the rack I is adapted for high shoes the pins will'be made of sufiicient length and arranged to hold the shoes in a position in which the top edges of the uppers will be held out of contact with the bars, as shown in Fig. 4.

In such instance the supporting bars cl will, if necessary, be set close to the sides of the rack, in alternate relation, as before described, and the pins 6 will be made correspondingly longer, and, usually, will be last comprising a pair of upright end supports, a series of horizontally disposed bars mounted in said supports and'arranged in vertically spaced relation alternately at opposite sides of the middle vertical plane of the end supports, and a single series of equally spaced, parallel, last-supporting pins mounted in each bar, the pins of each series being somewhat inclined from the vertical toward the opposite side of the rack from that to which the bar thereof is nearer, so that each'pin of one bar is extended 1n a line which passes ad acent and beneath the bar next above it, each pin be ing constructed to enter the jack-pin rek ceiving aperture of a last and being located at a distance from the next adjacent pin sufficient to hold the shoes on the lasts out of contact, in close proximity and in a downwardly inclined, inverted position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. I

CHARLES E. LOCKE. 

